Enclosures, such as safes, cabinets, and other enclosed spaces, may be used to contain valuable items and/or equipment. Examples of valuable items may include documents, money, stock certificates, jewelry, etc. Examples of equipment that may be contained in an enclosure include control equipment, computer devices, electronic equipment, etc. An enclosure may be protected using fire-rated insulation to slow the heating of the interior of that enclosure. However, once the heating exceeds the fire rating, the contents of the enclosure are no longer protected by the fire-rated insulation.
Alternatively, or additionally, a fire suppression system may be used to protect the enclosures and their contents. Examples of fire suppression systems, including fire suppression systems for enclosures and other enclosed spaces, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,507,745; 2,190,229; 3,779,179; 3,893,514; 4,726,426; 4,986,366; 5,505,266; 6,568,336; 6,935,433; 7,434,628; 8,256,525; and 8,607,888. The complete disclosures of the above patents are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
Many of the existing fire suppression systems use water as a fire suppressant, which require a source of water, and may expose documents or electronics to undesired amounts of water. Other existing fire suppression systems use non-combustible fluids such as carbon dioxide to displace the oxygen a fire requires, but do nothing to remove heat from an enclosure or otherwise lower the temperature within the enclosure.